Will we see Jon Jones actually move up to the heavyweight division?
The current light heavyweight champion first teased the move following Ovince Saint Preux’s debut in the 235-pound division against Ben Rothwell at UFC Fight Night: Anthony Smith vs. Glover Teixeira. Francis Ngannou – who’s coming off a strong knockout victory over Jairzinho Rozenstruik at UFC 249 – responded to Jones’ tweet and the two had a brief back-and-forth hinting at a potential fight:
UFC President Dana White seems on board with the match-up, though he’s not sure whether both men are serious or not (Essentially Sports):
“Anything’s possible. I don’t know if those guys really want that fight. You know what I mean? Let me tell you this. And I’m not saying this is the case with these two. You see a lot of talk online and whatever it might be. But actually making fights is a whole other ball game,” said White during the press conference.
While it’s possible that this is just all talk, Jones strongly indicated that he was willing to fight the heavyweight by asking UFC officials to “Send The Deal”:
There’s clearly interest from all parties involved; however, a bout between Jon Jones and Francis Ngannou is not confirmed just yet. The light heavyweight champion currently doesn’t have an opponent lined up for the belt, though Jones has hinted at fighting Jan Blachowicz.
Meanwhile, Ngannou is currently waiting for the trilogy fight between Stipe Miocic and Daniel Cormier to happen, thus the 33-year-old doesn’t have an opponent lined up in the meantime. It should be an interesting fight if it does happen as Jones has only competed as a light heavyweight throughout his professional career. We've seen many men and women become two-division champions, could a heavyweight belt be in the future of Jon Jones?